Pope Francis “I Have A Dream” speech?

This Tuesday, the attention-grabbing Pope Francis released a new document called ”Evangelii Gaudium”, or “The Joy of the Gospel”. John Allen, senior correspondent at the National Catholic Reporter tells NPR that he calls it Francis’ “I Have A Dream” speech because it opens with a remarkable dream.

He says he dreams of a church that is more focused on reaching out rather than collapsing in on itself and a church that is more merciful. “I’ve seen a lot of these apostolic exhortations come and go.” says Allen, who has covered the Vatican for over 10 years, and “this is the first one I can think of that has become a global sensation” he tells Arun Rath of “All Things Considered”.

Pope Francis also called on political leaders to reject “Trickle Down” methods that promote inequality to the poor, an economic theory popular among conservatives, particularly Ronald Reagan

But on the political spectrum, Francis isn’t as liberal as he is given credit for. In September, he grabbed headlines when he made a stance for less focus on internal issues of the church, like abortion and gay marriage. Those statements aren’t to be confused with reform because he made it clear in his document that the church can’t be expected to change her stance in those areas. This deems him more moderate than anything else, not particularly appealing to right-wing traditionalist or super progressive liberals.